The East, playing with a chip on its collective shoulder and out to prove its talent, stymied the West's offense with at least five big-time, college-bound players to take the 21st Greater El Paso Football Showcase All-Star Game, 16-7, in a defensive battle Saturday in the Sun Bowl.

The win gives the East two victories in a row and a 12-9 advantage overall.

"All week we heard about the Jones brothers, the big linemen from Franklin," East and El Dorado linebacker Fernie Chavez said. "But we're all-stars, too. We wanted to prove we belonged."

They did. After the two teams played to a lackluster first half -- the East failed to capitalize on three possessions that started in West territory, including twice inside the 35 -- a pair of El Dorado players kick-started the East at the start of the second half.

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Quinton Childs moved to running back and started eating up chunks of yards on the ground. It opened up the passing game and fellow Aztec Cade Terrazas hit Socorro's Elijah Blas for a 41-yard strike.

"Quinton's just a playmaker," said Terrazas, the East Offensive Back MVP of the game.

West quarterback Alvin Jones then missed a pitch to his brother Aaron, which lost 19 yards. It was one of the West's five fumbles.

Two players later, Chavez squared up Aaron Jones in the end zone. He didn't miss, getting a safety and a 9-0 lead the West could never overcome.

"Huge," East coach Phil Hatch said.

"It felt pretty good, but I couldn't have done it without that defensive line opening holes," said Chavez, the East MVP. "I showed I could play with those guys, something I've always wanted to do."

Alvin Jones, the West MVP, answered with a great 62-yard run, brushing off three tackles to make the score 9-7.

But Terrazas and the East answered. Childs (70 rushing yards) had a 31-yard run before Terrazas threw a 46-yard bullet to Bel Air's Dylan Hunt for the last score.

"It just took me a little bit to get warmed up, playing just one quarter at a time," said Terrazas, who finished 6-of-9 for 119 yards. "But once I figured out the West was really only playing one defense, it came together."

Good field position and penalties also helped. The West started eight possessions inside its own 20-yard line and a total of 21 penalties were called, disrupting the rhythm of the game.

The East defense did the rest, disguising its coverages, which gave the West trouble. The East rotated between multiple zones and man schemes in the secondary. It led to three interceptions, all off Andress quarterback and UTEP commit Ryan Metz. Metz had two interceptions the entire season and had not thrown multiple interceptions in a game since he was a sophomore.

Riverside's Kevin Carreon had one interception in the first half and then Del Valle's Carlos De Lara got another one early in the fourth quarter. As the West was driving late and threatening to make the game interesting, Carreon, playing zone, read Metz's eyes and grabbed his second interception.

"Unbelievable," said Carreon, the East's Defensive Back MVP. "The West, they might have been bigger or faster, but today, we had the bigger hearts."

El Dorado's Trey Smith earned the Defensive Lineman MVP for the East, while Burges' Caleb Riddle got the same honor for the West. Franklin's Connor Potts and Clint's Preston Polston won the Offensive Lineman MVPs. Burges' Aaron Jones and Chapin's Max Flores were named Offensive Back and Defensive Back MVPs, respectively, for the West.

Evan Mohl may be reached at emohl@elpasotimes.com;546-6381. Follow him on Twitter @EvanMohl

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